Starting and operating device and circuits for electric discharge devices



May 15, 1951 p w u 2,553,489

STARTING AND OPERATING DEVICE AND CIRCUITS FOR ELECTRIC DISCHARGE DEVICES Filed June 19, 1948 Invervtov: phiLippe Wqguerim His A ctovfieg,

Patented May 15, 1951 STARTING. AND OPERATING DEVICE AND CIRCUITS FOR VICES ELECTRIC DISCHARGE DE- Philippe.- Waguet. Paris, France, assignor to General Electric. Company, a. corporation of New York.

Application June19, 1948; SerialINo. 34,027 InFrance Dccember 24, 1946- 8 Claims. (Cl. 315'98) This invention. relates to electric. discharge; de-

vices of the type employing ionizable mediums. such as gases and vapors, and more particularly to starting and operating devices and circuitsthereof.

An object of my invention. is to provide new and improved startingand operating circuits. for electric discharge. lamps.

Another object of my invention is-to; providea new and improved starting and operating: circuit; for fluorescent lamps. which. eliminates flicker in of the lamps due to: repeated starting attempts consequent upon failure to ignite.

A feature of my inventionis thereliminati'on of.

the possibility ofrepeated undesirable starting" attempts if, for'any reason; a lamp should; either fail to start when first switched: on, or should thereafter become defective. Thus, if a lamp be defective and. fail to start: immediately when it is switched on; no; further starting attempts; with conseouent undesirable flickering, will be made. While the lamp is switched on, for any reason it should go off; for instance as" a result of a lowered supply voltage, the lamp will not attempt tostart'x on the: lowered voltage but will simply remain extinguished. until: a' controlswitch is manually operated.

For a better understandin of my invention reference may be had to: the following description takenin connection with the accompanying drawing and its scopewill be pointed out in the appended claims; Fig; l.v is a-diagrammatic view of an electric discharge device and a starting and operating circuit: therefor incorporating my invention, and Fig; 25' illustrate a variation of the; circuit shown inLFig; I.

In accordance with. my invention, I have 'pro-' vided a means. of. eliminating: the flickering caused by an electric: discharge device attemptingv to restart; due to the loss of emissive coating on the: electrodes or because of variations in operating: voltage. or any other means creating an unstable condition in the discharge device. In. accordance with my invention 1.: have provid ed a relay which; is; restrained from? returning to" its rest position when the discharge lamp" is: ex:-

tinguished, Generally speaking, I providerinthe magnetic circuit. of a starting: switch: or relay,

in addition. to: the current-:01 00111230160113 which.

is in series with the lamp; a. voltage: or holding: coil which becomes automatically connerted in parallel with. the.- conductors of: the:distributionsystem as soon as-thecontrol coilisenergized. by thedischarge current, In this manner, it the discharge discontinues for one reason or another, the starting switch is locked out,

Some of the advantages offered by my invention. are as follows Instantaneous lighting of the lamp without any flickering or beats, elimination of flickering when the lamp beoomes defective, lengthening of the life of the lamp due to equal potential. filaments used therein.

Referring toFig; 1, I have there illustrated one embodiment of my invention as applied to an electric discharge: device: I. The electric discharge device I, such as aw fluorescent lamp; therein illustrated comprises an elongated tnbular or cylindrical envelope 2' having sealed into the ends thereof filamentary electrodes 3 and 4. Filamentary electrodes 3 and 4' may com-- prisev a coil, preferably in the form of a coiled coil of tungsten wire activated with oxides oi alkaline earth metals such as a mixture; of bariunr andstrontium' oxides. The envelope 2 contains a gaseous atmosphere such as a rare gas- (like neon, argon or mixtures thereof) at a pressureof a few millimeters and a small quantity of mercury which, during the operation of the lamp, has a low pressure ofthe. order of 10microns. The device I may be a-- low pressure positive column lamp of a fluorescent type pro- Vided with a" suitable phosphor or fluorescent coating. This fluorescent coating, upon excitation by the radiation produced by" an electric" discharge between the electrodes, transforms a shorter wave radiation" due to the discharge into longer wave radiation such as radiation within the visible range;

Devicel is connected across a suitable current supply 5, 5' which, for example; may be a volt60- cycle. source, through a stabilizing resistance' or ballast 6:- and the filamentary heating windings-of transforming means I. The transforming means 1 comprising a primary winding section 8, apair of step-down. secondary filamentary heating.- winding sections 9-, 9', and a Voltage stepup.' winding; Hlwhich isconnected acrossxthe-cur-rent supply 5-, 5' through a switching. means H. means ll may comprise an armature or contactor l 2 in series with the primary windin section 8 of transforming means 1' across the current supply, a cur-renter control coil l3 in series with. device I across the current supply 5-, 5 and connected. to actuate. contactor I12 upon theflow of: current through the device, and a second voltage or holding coil l4: connected across the current supply 5, 5- and energized upon. actua Upon movement of: arma-' tion of contactor' [-2.

The unitary relay or switching ture or contactor l2 from position a to position b due to the magnetic force set up in coil l3 by the passage of discharge current therethrough, coil I4 is connected across the current supply 5, 5. The magnetic force set up in coil l4 by the passage of current therethrough is adequate to retain contactor l2 in position b until the starting and operating circuits are de-energized. A manual make-and-break switch I5 is used to connect device I to the current supply 5, 5. An auxiliary electrode I6 is connected, by means of the low-capacitance condenser H, to the primary winding section 8 of transforming means 1 through the step-up secondary winding section III.

The operation of the circuit illustrated in Fig. l is as follows: In the rest position, as shown in Figure 1, the contactor ll! of relay or switching means H closes the circuit of the primary winding 8 of the transforming means I. As soon as the switch I5 is closed, the thermo-emissive filamentary electrodes 3 and 4 are heated by the secondary winding sections 9 and 9' and the auxiliary electrode I6 is raised to a suitable potential level by the voltage step-up winding section In of the transforming means i. The device or lamp lights up and the discharge current which passes through the coil :3 of relay or switching means I l causes that relay to operate, which in turn opens the circuit of the pri- 1 mary winding section 8 of the transformer "I and applies voltage to coil [4 of that relay which now cooperates with coil l3. The relay remains now in the operated or a position as long as the supply switch I5 is closed. If the discharge lamp goes out by itself, the relay can no longer return to the rest position, and any attempt to re-ignite the lamp is suppressed, thus preventing flickering.

Fig. 2 incorporates the same corresponding parts shown in Fig. 1 except that the auxiliary electrode I6 is connected, by means of the lowcapacitance condenser l1, directly to one side of the current supply 5, 5'. In this particular circuit the auxiliary electrode H; has a varying potential which fluctuates as the potential of the current supply 5, 5 changes. The operating of the circuit is, however, identical to that of Fig. 1 except for the starting potential applied to the auxiliary electrode l6.

While certain specific embodiments have been shown and described, it will, of course, be under-- stood that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention. Thusa number of lamps may be connected either in series or in parallel. Various other electrodeheating circuits may be provided, and different types of ballasts may be used with other sources of voltage. The appended claims are, therefore, intended to cover any such modifications falling within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for operating a gaseous luminous electric discharge device, of the type including a pair of thermionic electrodes, from a voltage source, comprising a pair of input terminals adapted to be connected to said source and cpposed pairs of output terminals adapted to be connected to said electrodes, a transformer having a primary winding, and secondary windings respectively connected to said pairs of output terminals, a relay having a control coil, a holding coil, and a two-position contactor, a ballasting impedance, a main circuit constituted by connecting said opposed pairs of output terminals, in series with said control coil and said ballasting impedance, across said input terminals, said main circuit being adapted to produce a dis charge within an electric discharge device, a starting circuit constituted by connecting said primary winding, in series with said contactor in its inoperated position, across said input terminals, and a holding circuit constituted by connecting said holding coil, in series with said contactor in its operated position, across said input terminals.

2. Apparatus for operating a fluorescent lamp, of the type including a pair of thermionic electrodes and an auxiliary starting electrode located intermediate the ends thereof, from a voltage source, comprising a pair of input terminals adapted to be connected to said thermionic electrodes, and an auxiliary output terminal adapted to be connected to said auxiliary electrode, a transformer having a primary winding, a pair of secondary windings and an auxiliary secondary winding, connections from said pair of secondary windings to said opposed pairs of output terminals in order to provide heating current to the thermionic electrodes of an electric device, a connection from one side of said auxiliary winding to one of said output terminals, and from the other side to said auxiliary output terminal, a relay having a control coil, a holding coil, and a two position contactor, a ballasting impedance a main circuit constituted by connecting said opposed pairs of output terminals, in series with said control coil and said ballasting impedance, across said input terminals, a con trol circuit constituted by connecting said primary winding, in series With said contactor in its inoperated position, across said input terminals, and a holding circuit constituted by connecting said holding coil, in series with said contactor in its operated position, across said input terminals.

3. Apparatus for operating a fluorescent lamp of the type including a pair of thermionic electrodes and an auxiliary starting electrode located intermediate the end thereof, from an alternating voltage source, comprising a pair of input terminals adapted to be connected to said source, opposed pairs of output terminals adapted to be connected to said thermionic electrodes, and an auxiliary output terminal adapted to be connected to said auxiliary starting electrode, a transformer having a primary winding, a pair of secondary windings connected respectively to said opposed pairs of output terminals in order to provide heating current to the thermionic electrodes of a lamp, and an auxiliary secondary winding connected to said auxiliary output terminal, a relay having a current control coil, a voltage holding coil, and a contactor occupying a first position in its inoperated state and a second position in its operated state, said relay requiring current, substantially equal to the discharge current of said lamp, through said control coil to operate said contactor, and said relay requiring only Voltage, substantially equal to the source voltage, across said holding coil to maintain said contactor in its operated state, a ballast impedance, a main circuit constituted by connecting said opposed pairs of terminals, in series with said control coil and said ballast impedance, across said input terminals, a control circuit constituted by connecting said primary winding, in series with said contactor in its first or inope tedposi o pac ss aid npu s nals, and aholdingwircuitconstituted by connectingrsaid holdin coil, inlseries with said: com-L tactor in itsi-secondbr operat'eclz position; across said inputiterminalsn 4 Apparatus lforoperatingl-alfluorescentlamp of the type: including a. pair"ofithermionicelece trodes andan auxiliary starting electrode locate ed intermediate the ends-thereof; from an alter= natingvoltage source, comprising-, a pair ofr'"in*- put terminals adaptedto be connected" to, said source, opposedapairsion-outpuirterminals adapted to be connected to said thermionic electrodes,

and, an. auxiliary output terminal adaptediijtobe connectedto said" auxiliary starting electrode, a transformer having a primary Winding, a pair of secondary windings connected to said opposed pairs of output terminal for providing heating current to the thermionic electrodes of a lamp, and an auxiliary secondary winding connected between one of said opposed pairs of output terminals and said auxiliary output terminal, a relay having a current control coil, a voltage holding coil, and a contactor carried by a magnetic armature coacting with both said coils, said contactor occupying a first position in its inoperated state and a second position in its operated state, said relay requiring current, substantially equal to the discharge current of said lamp, through said control coil to operate said contactor, and said relay requiring only voltage, substantially equal to the source voltage, across said holding coil to maintain said contactor in its operating state, a ballasting impedance, a main circuit constituted by connecting said opposed pairs of output terminals, in series with said control coil and said ballasting impedance, across said input terminals, a control circuit constituted by connecting said primary winding, in series with the first position terminals of said contactor, across said input terminals, said contactor operating upon the initiation of current through said output terminals to open said control circuit, and a holding circuit constituted by connecting said holding coil, in series with the terminals of said contactor in its second position, across said input terminals, said contactor completing said holding circuit in its operated state, and locking in said state to prevent a return to said inoperated state consequent upon failure of current to flow through said output terminals.

5. In combination, a gaseous luminous discharge device, of the type including a pair of thermionic electrodes, a voltage source, a transformer havin a primary winding and secondary windings connected to said thermionic electrodes, a relay having a control coil, a holding coil, and a two-position contactor, a ballasting impedance, a main discharge circuit constituted by connecting said device, in series with said control coil and said ballasting impedance across sad source, a starting circuit constituted by connecting said primary winding, in series with said contactor in its inoperated position, across said source, and a holding circuit constituted by connecting said holding coil, in series with said contactor in its operated position, across said source.

6. In combination, a fluorescent lamp of the type including a pair of thermionic electrodes and an auxiliary starting electrode located intermediate the ends thereof, a voltage source, a transformer having a primary winding, a pair of secondary windings, and an auxiliary secondary winding, connections from said pair of secondle-ass ary,windings to said thermionic. electrodes for providing heating currentthereto, a connection from one, side of said auxiliary winding to one of {said thermionic electrodes, and from. the other sideto, said," auxiliary electrode, a relayhaving, acontrol coil, &-, h0 1dil1g coiland a two-position contactor, aballasting impedance, a main discharge, circuit constituted by connecting said lamp-through its thermionic electrodes, in, se-

ries-.witlr said control coil and saidballasting impedance, across said source, a control circuit series with said contactor in its operated position.

across said source.

7. In combination, a fluorescent lamp of the type including a pair of thermionic electrodes and an auxiliary starting electrode located intermediate the ends thereof, an alternating voltage source, a transformer having a primary winding, a pair of secondary windings connected to said thermionic electrodes to provide heating current thereto, and an auxiliary secondary winding connected to said auxiliary electrode, a relay having a current control coil, a voltage holding coil, and a contactor occupying a first position in its inoperated state and a second position in its operated state, said relay requiring current, substantially equal to the lamp discharge current, through said control coil to operate said contactor, and said relay requiring only voltage, substantially equal to the source voltage, across said holding coil to maintain said contactor in its operated state, a ballasting impedance, a main discharge circuit constituted by connecting said lamp, in series with said control coil and said ballasting impedance, across said source, a control circuit constituted by connecting said primary winding in series with said contactor in its first or inoperated position, across said source, and a holding circuit constituted by connecting said holding coil, in series with said contactor in its second or operated position, across said source.

8. In combination, a fluorescent lamp of the type including a pair of thermionic electrodes and an auxiliary starting electrode located intermediate the ends thereof, an alternating voltage source, a transformer having a primary winding, a pair of secondary windings connected to said thermionic electrodes to provide heating current thereto and an auxiliary secondary winding having one side connected to one of said thermionic electrodes and the other side connected to said auxiliary electrode, a relay having a current control coil, and a contactor carried by a magnetic armature coacting with both said coils, said contactor occupying a first position in its inoperated state and a second position in its operated state, said relay requiring current, substantially equal to the lamp discharge current, through said control coil to operate said contactor, and said relay requiring only voltage, substantially equal to the source voltage, across said holding coil to maintain said contactor in its operated state, a ballasting impedance, a main discharge circuit constituted by connecting said lamp, in series with said control coil and said ballasting impedance, across said source, a control circuit constituted by connecting said primary winding, in series with the first position terminals of said contactor, across said source, said contactor operating upon the initiation of a discharge through said lamp to rupture said control circuit, and a holding circuit constituted by connecting said holding coil, in series with the terminals of said contactor in its second position, across said source, said contactor completing said holding circuit in its operated state and locking in said state to prevent a return to said inoperated state consequent upon failure of a discharge to occur within said 10 lamp.

PHILIPPE WAGUET.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 15 file of this patent:

Number Number 8 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Von Wedel July 14, 1931 Wiegand Feb. 9, 1932 Erickson Oct. 16, 1934 Lederer Nov. 12, 1935 McKesson Mar. 25, 1941 Lord Aug. 19, 1941 Campbell Dec. 21, 1948 Mills Feb. 22, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Oct. 22, 1940. 

